I moved to South Lake Tahoe in November 2021 as an AmeriCorps member to help with the California wildfire crisis. Housing was impossible to find on my small stipend, even with the option of roommates, and I had to rent a small room from someone willing to go far below market value. Since then, I have found a permanent position making $30 an hour in the same line of work and moved out of that room. I pulled myself up by the bootstraps, earned a college degree, and now work in my chosen career field working to prevent catastrophic fires from destroying our town. However, all I can afford on my own is a 450 square foot apartment built in the 50s with no laundry facilities. Despite sharing housing and being active in the rental space to upgrade, nothing has been affordable enough to qualify.

My expertise is not in government or policy, however from my experience as a resident in Tahoe, I can say that change needs to happen to address these issues. Increasingly, workers are commuting to South Lake rather than living here, as explained in the City of South Lake Tahoe General Plan:

“25 to 31 percent of employees commute to the South Shore Region for work…(this) includes employees filling year-round and seasonal jobs…Carson City (is) the most common residence for in-commuters.”

By having many local employees living outside of Tahoe, they are not giving back to the community by shopping or recreating here. Additionally, many essential workers, especially wildland fire personnel and including myself, cannot live here without being in poverty. South Lake Tahoe desperately needs more housing options than what is available. According to the United States Census Bureau, 44.6% of housing units between 2017-2021 are estimated to have been vacant. Additionally, the City of South Lake Tahoe’s 2022 General Plan states:

“The decreasing ability to house local residents and employees can be attributed primarily to the loss of resident-occupied homes because residents cannot compete for homes as strongly as wealthy second homeowners. The inability to compete is due to the high price point of new development, the loss of existing local resident housing units inducing a relative housing shortage, growth caps, reduced incentives for rental property maintenance due to a captive market reliant upon a limited number of competitive rental suppliers, shifting demographics, and other factors.”

The City Council has continuously rejected other measures to improve costs for residents, and other solutions have not been proposed. The upcoming vacancy tax on the ballot may not be the ideal solution for some, but leaving this problem unchecked can cause even more long-term damage, especially to those like me who provide essential services. I urge our community to consider the state of our housing market, economy, and options, and to take action while we have this opportunity to make beneficial change. Vote Yes on Measure N so those of us working to protect our community from catastrophic wildfires can continue to live here.

Sierra Riker graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science and minor in Biology from Northern Arizona University in 2021. They moved to South Lake Tahoe shortly after as an AmeriCorps member working with local environmental nonprofits, and afterward began working with a nonprofit in forestry on prevention and recovery from wildfire.